Alistair Overeem is about to get paid.
The former Strikeforce and Dream heavyweight champion, in the last fight of his UFC contract, knocked out former UFC heavyweight titleholder Junior dos Santos. The time of the finish was 4:43 of the second round at UFC on FOX 17 in Orlando.
Overeem (40-14) and dos Santos pushed a tenative pace in the opening round, which the fans in attendance didn't exactly appreciate.
But it turned out to be a part of the JacksonWink fighter's game plan. Overeem began to soften dos Santos up in the second round with punishing body shots.
A crushing left hand to the jaw and a pair of hammerfists ended it. While it appeared referee Dan Miragliota's stoppage may have been a tad quick, there's no denying dos Santos was in big, big trouble.
"Junior is a very dangerous opponent," said Overeem, who has won four out of his past five. "You have to fight very cautious against him because he throws big big bombs. The game plan was to figure out his timing and then go from there. We had to soften him up a little bit, it was very, very dangerous."
Dos Santos (17-4) lost in the UFC for the first time against an opponent other than former heavyweight champ Cain Velasquez, who defeated him twice.